Wire wrap tool

ABSTRACT

A hand tool for loosening and removing coiled wire wrap electrical connections by engaging the end of a wire and rotating the tool until the wire loosens and can be lifted off. The tool has a hollow central tubular member with a helical thread on one end. A second tubular member having flexible collet jaws fits over the center tube for replacing coil wire wraps. An outer tubular member fits over the second tubular member and when pushed down forces the collet jaws against the wire wrap to tighten the coil.

United States Patent Dorsey Feb. 18, 1975 [5 WIRE WRAP TOOL 3,378,9064/1968 Dorsey 242/703 11 [76] inventor: Ted C. Dorsey, 4479 WestmontSt.,

ventura, C lif 93003 Primary Examiner-B1lly S. Taylor Attorney, Agent,or FirmRichard S. Sciascia; Joseph [221 Wed: Sept- 25, 1972 M. St.Amand; David OReilly [21] Appl. No.: 292,055 7 [57] ABSTRACT [22] CC11.242/7.06, 5294215011 A hand tool for loosening and removing Coiled .wirel7 7 wrap electrical connections by engaging the end of a 3 ig /bgflif Hd f wire and rotating the tooluntil the wire loosens and 6 can be liftedoff. The tool has a hollow central tubular member with a helical threadon one end. A second tubular member having flexible collet jaws fitsover [56] References cued the center tube for replacing coil wire wraps.An outer UNITED STATES PATENTS tubular member fits over the secondtubular member 2,884,210 4/1959 Strauss 242/7.06 and when pushed downforces the collet jaws against 2,898,952 9/1959 Lovecky 242/706 the wirewrap to tighten the coil, 3,019,517 2/1962 Lovecky 242/717 3,210,83610/1965 Johanson et al. 29/203 H 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures WIRE WRAPTOOL STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein maybe manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United Statesof America for governmental purposes without the payment of anyroyalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tool forremoving and replacing coiled wire wrap electrical connections.

In the field of computers and communications, coiled wire wrapconnections are being used with increasing frequency. This type orconnection consists of a terminal, typically square, which has severalturns of a wire wrapped tightly around it. The corners of the terminalcut into the wire for maximum electrical connection.

Often these connections have to be changed and there is a great need fora tool which can perform this function without damaging the wire. A toolwhich does not permit careful loosening of the coil will tend to breakthe wire where the terminal has cut into it. This necessitates completereplacement of the wire at greater expense and loss of time than itwould ordinarily entail to remove and replace the same connection on adifferent terminal.-

Present tools for this purpose concentrate mainly on the removal of coilwire wrap with little emphasis placed on the ability to rewrap the coilon a different terminal and still achieve a good connection.

One such tool was disclosed by the same inventor as this invention inUS. Pat. No. 3,378,906, Apr. 23, 1968. While this tool was animprovement over existing devices, it was not entirely satisfactory. Thetool is somewhat bulky and presents a danger to adjacent existingterminals. Also, the vise grip action of the tool could easily becometoo severe and on occasion cause the twisting off of the completeterminal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is toprovide a tool which can be used to gently lift off and hold a coil wirewrap while it is moved to another terminal and carefully rewrapped withlittle damage to the coil. The tool is comprised of three concentrictubular members with the central tubular member having a helicalthreaded portion at one end. The second or intermediate tubular memberhas collet jaws' which, when pressed against the helical thread, retainthe coil wire wrap without excessive force.

The central tubular member also has a semi-helical notch in the oppositeend from the helical groove for careful removal of coil wire wraps whichare not going to be rewrapped without damage to the terminal. Thispermits quick release of the coil from the tool which cannot be done asreadily with the helically threaded end.

STATEMENT OF THE OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a tool for removing and replacing coil wire wrapswithout damage to the coil or terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tool to retainthe coil during the entire removal and rewrapping process. I

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tool forrewrapping coil wire wrap connections without excessive force beingapplied to the wire and terminal.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tool forquickly removing coil wire wraps without damaging the terminal.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhen considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section viewof one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevation view of the embodiment shown in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section view of a second embodiment of theinvention. I

FIG. 4 is a partial section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partial elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing theoperation of the tool to remove a coil wire wrap connection.

FIG. 6 is a partial elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing theoperation of the tool for rewrapping a coil wire wrap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1,there is shown a tool for removing and rewrapping coil wire wrapconnections. This embodiment is comprised of three concentric tubularmembers 10, 12 and 14, respectively.

The central tubular member 10 has a raised external helical groove 16 atone end and a helical notch 18 at the other end. Helical groove 16 hasat least one complete turn and the depth of the groove is determined bythe wire size for which the tool is intended to be used. In'most cases,extremely small gage wire (on the order of No. 30 AWG) is used for thesetypes of connections. In any case, the depth of helical groove 16 shouldbe slightly larger than the diameter of the wire. This preventsexcessive pressure from collet jaws 20 when rewrapping a coil.

The semi-helical notch 18 in the other end of central 4 tubular member12 is used to quickly remove coil wire wraps which are not going to beimmediately replaced or reused. The semi-helical notch hooks the end ofa coil and a slight rotation loosens it. The coil can then be quicklylifted off and dropped from the tool since it is not retained as in thecase of the helical groove.

The second or intermediate concentric tubular member 12 fits overcentral tubular member 10 to guide and retain it. In addition, flexiblecollet jaws 20 are provided in the end adjacent to helical groove 16 forretaining and applying a light pressure during the rewrapping process.In order to assure that the coil wire is not damaged, pads '22 of asuitable resilient and nonabrasive material, such as asbestos, areprovided.

The outer concentric retaining tube 14 is provided for closing andlocking flexible collet jaws 20 of intermediate concentric tube 12 in aclosed position, if desired. A downward force on outer concentric tube14 forces the flexible collet jaws 20 inward until they contact theouter rim of helical groove 16. This permits movement of the coil wirewrap to another terminal without damage to the wire.

Intermediate concentric tube 12 has parallel elongated slots 24 oneither side. A retaining pin 26, press fitted in central concentric tube10, rides in these slots 24 to limit the motion of the central tube. Theretaining pin 26 may be extended further, if desired, to provide fingermanipulating grips. The pin extensions also function to prevent outerconcentric locking tube 14 from slipping off the tool.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. Thecentral wire wrap loosening tube is the same configuration as in FIG. 1.The intermediate tube is, however, different in that only one collet jaw28 is provided. The collet jaw 28 is formed as a flexible semi-circularstrip of metal having a rounded post 30 at the bottom end. Asemi-circular notch 32 in intermediate tube 12 permits post 30 offlexible collet jaw 28 to press against a coil wire wrap, thus retainingit in helical groove 16. Outer concentric tube 14 has sufficient insidediameter to force collet jaw 28 gently against a coil wire wrap in thehelical groove and lock it in place,

v if desired. Intermediate tube 12 may be slightly tapered as shown at34, or formed. in any suitable manner to permit helical groove 16 to bewithdrawn into the tube.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1for removing and replacing coil wire wraps. For removing a coil, thecentral tube 10 is slipped over a terminal 36 and gently rotated so thatthe helical groove passes under the wire and loosens coil 38.Intermediate retaining tube 12 is then slipped over the coil 38, centraltube 10 and terminal 36. The outer tube 14 may then be forced down,locking coil 38 in place with collet jaws of intermediate tube 12. Thecoil may now be lifted off the terminal.

For rewrapping coil 38 on another terminal, the procedure is reversed,as shown in FIG. 6, except that collet jaws 20 remain locked against thecoil. That is, the entire tool is rotated and as the coil comes out ofhelical groove 16, the friction between it and the collet jaws tightenscoil 38 around terminal 36. The same procedure applies to the embodimentshown in FIG. 3.

When a coil wire wrap is to be removed and not replaced or immediatelyreused, the opposite end of the tool can be employed. To do this,central concentric tube 10 is slid upward until semi-helical notch 18extends from the end of intermediate concentric tube 12. When retainingpin 26 reaches the end of slot 24, the notch 18 will be in properposition. Outer concentric tube 14 can then be slid down over colletjaws 20, locking the central tube 10 in this set position. The tool cannow be turned over with outer tube effectively functioning as a handle.The tool is slipped over a terminal and rotated until notch 18 catchesand loosens the coil 'wire wrap. The coil can then be quickly lifted offthe terminal and dropped from the tool.

Thus, there has been disclosed a new wire wrapping tool for quickremoval and replacement of coil wire wraps without damage to the wirewith the option of retaining the coil in the tool for moving connectionsfrom one terminal to another.

Obviously many modifications and variations are possible in the light ofthe above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within thescope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwisethan as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A tool for removing and replacing coil wire wraps comprising:

a first tubular member having a raised external helical groove having apredetermined depth at one end;

a second tubular member concentric with the first tubular member andhaving at least one flexible collet jaw at one end adjacent to thehelical groove of the first tubular member;

a third tubular member slidable over and concentric with the secondtubular member to force the collet jaw of the second tubular memberagainst the helical groove of the first tubular member whereby a coilwire wrap may be retained in the tool.

2. The tool as recited in claim 1 wherein the first concentric tubularmember has a semi-helical slot in the opposite end from the helicalgroove.

3. The tool as described in claim 2 including longitudinal slots in saidsecond tubular member; and

a retaining pin passing through the first tubular mem her and riding inthe longitudinal slots.

4. The tool as recited in claim 3 wherein the collet jaw is formed of aplurality of flexible strips at the end of the second tubular memberwith resilient pads attached to the strips.

5. The tool as recited in claim 3 wherein the collet jaw is comprised ofa flexible semi-circular strip attached to the outside of said secondtubular member I with a rounded post attached to the concave surface ofthe flexible strip adjacent to the helical groove of the first tubularmember.

6. The tool as recited in claim 1 wherein the helical groove has a depthslightly larger than the diameter of the wire for which the tool isintended to be used to prevent excessive pressure when rewrapping acoil.

1. A tool for removing and replacing coil wire wraps comprising: a firsttubular member having a raised external helical groove having apredetermined depth at one end; a second tubular member concentric withthe first tubular member and having at least one flexible collet jaw atone end adjacent to the helical groove of the first tubular member; athird tubular member slidable over and concentric with the secondtubular member to force the collet jaw of the second tubular memberagainst the helical groove of the first tubular member whereby a coilwire wrap may be retained in the tool.
 2. The tool as recited in claim 1wherein the first concentric tubular member has a semi-helical slot inthe opposite end from the helical groove.
 3. The tool as described inclaim 2 including longitudinal slots in said second tubular member; anda retaining pin passing through the first tubular member and riding inthe longitudinal slots.
 4. The tool as recited in claim 3 wherein thecollet jaw is formed of a plurality of flexible strips at the end of thesecond tubular member with resilient pads attached to the strips.
 5. Thetool as recited in claim 3 wherein the collet jaw is comprised of aflexible semi-circular strip attached to the outside of said secondtubular member with a rounded post attached to the concave surface ofthe flexible strip adjacent to the helical groove of the first tubularmember.
 6. The tool as recited in claim 1 wherein the helical groove hasa depth slightly larger than the diameter of the wire for which the toolis intended to be used to prevent excessive pressure when rewrapping acoil.